I Am the Greatness (Herod’s Song)

I Am the Greatness (Herod's Song)

Brian West

Patently unworthy to aspire to royalty,

Doubtlessly a poor, deluded, peasant family,

Urged along by foreigners proclaiming prophecies--

I can smell the scent familiar of rebellion

I can see the shadows of the vultures' patient wings;

Miscreants and fools would love to make or be made king

In the end, they're happy just to spread their suffering:

This situation calls for my solution

For I am the greatness, it is I upon the throne;

I throw down pretenders, it is I and I alone

I sift out the riff-raff, then I smash them like a stone;

I am the greatness, I and I alone

I am the greatness, I and I alone

I can hear the voices of the centuries come down;

Emperors and wise men will remember Herod's crown

Bringing Roman peace to this Judean barren ground--

Oh, I'm sure my name will never be forgotten

For I am the greatness, it is I upon the throne;

I throw down pretenders, it is I and I alone

I sift out the riff-raff, then I smash them like a stone;

I am the greatness, I and I alone

I am the greatness, I and I alone

Would you dare to kill to govern well,

To boldly use the pow'r that is your birthright?

I can hear the mourner's moans and yells; Oh, they weep not for the king, but

Someone else's son tonight...

For I am the greatness, it is I upon the throne; I throw down pretenders, it is I and I alone

I sift out the riff-raff, then I smash them like a stone; I am the greatness, I and I alone

I am the greatness, I and I alone; I am the greatness, I and I alone; I am the greatness, I and I alone